


What's in a Name?

by radovanryn



Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: Big Brother Lea, M/M, Post-Canon, Sea Salt Family (Kingdom Hearts)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-28
Updated: 2020-12-28
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:28:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28390896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/radovanryn/pseuds/radovanryn
Summary: A domestic Sea Salt family moment; or, how Roxas and Xion learn about the significance of names. [Post-KH3, LeaIsa]
Relationships: Isa & Lea & Roxas & Xion (Kingdom Hearts), Isa/Lea (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 15
Kudos: 56





	What's in a Name?

The loud _bang_ the kitchen door makes as it’s slammed open startles Lea from his dozing, Isa grunting as one of Lea’s flailing limbs catches him in the gut. Lea winces at his boyfriend-slash-mattress, then again at the tell-tale whine of a skateboard on linoleum. 

“Knock it off, Rox!” Lea shouts, bracing himself against Isa, who makes another noise of protest as Lea sits up. “I _just_ polished that!”

“It’s Tredd.” A mop of dirty blonde hair appears in the entryway, followed by a messy black braid that Isa had carefully tied that morning. Lea finally pulls himself up, and turns so that he’s facing Roxas and Xion, both weighed down with heavy backpacks and their skateboards. 

“Huh?”

“ _Tredd_ ,” Roxas repeats, which garners an eye-roll from Xion and a shrug from Isa when Lea glances his way. 

“Roxas, what—”

“That’s not my name,” apparently-not-Roxas replies. Lea squints; he’s pretty good at telling Ventus and Roxas apart, and besides, Ventus doesn’t go to school in Twilight Town with Xion— _Roxas_ does.

Thankfully, Xion interjects before Lea gets even more confused. “One of our teachers, Mr. Owen, got married and now he’s got a different name, Mr.—”

“Clemens,” Roxas interrupts. “He told us that people can change their name if they want.”

“I… see,” Lea says, carefully. Since moving to Twilight Town and befriending more kids their age, Roxas and Xion don’t ask Lea as many questions, however it still happens now and then. More often, the teens discover something new on their own and run with it, leaving Lea (and Isa) bewildered until an explanation is given. “Is that somethin’ you want, Roxas?”

“My name is _Tredd_ ,” Rox— _pft,_ ‘Tredd,’ snaps. 

“I told him you wouldn’t like it,” Xion adds, sprawling across a nearby loveseat. She’s got her gummiphone out, thumbs rapidly tapping the screen, texting her latest crush if the faint blush across her cheeks means anything. Normally, Lea would be teasing her about it, but his brain is still struggling to process—

“Tredd.” He grimaces. “Can’t say I’m the biggest fan. How’d you even come up with that?”

Tred— _No_ , Lea’s mind refuses to process that. Roxas huffs as he throws himself into the beanbag they’ve set up in front of the television, perfect for weekend videogame marathons. “C’mon, it’s not _that_ bad. Besides, we only had our study period to think of something.”

Beside Lea, Isa hums thoughtfully. “Ed,” he says, then, “Or Tre. Unfortunately, I don’t think you’re suited to ‘Red,’ unless you plan to dye your hair some obnoxious color like—” Isa lightly tugs at one of Lea’s wild spikes, causing Lea to yelp in offense. 

“Hey!”

Roxas looks perplexed. “What?” he asks Isa, who swats Lea’s retaliatory swing down without pause. 

“Nicknames,” he explains. “An inevitability, I’m afraid. Like it or not, there will always be at least one person in your life who is too lazy to pronounce even the shortest names.”

“Wha— Hey!” Lea repeats, pointing an accusatory finger at Isa. “You _like_ my nicknames, hypocrite.” Isa doesn’t reply, but his tiny smile says plenty. 

Across from the bickering couple, Xion’s giggling. “Ooh, nicknames! I like those.” She grins at Roxas. “Can I copy your geography homework, Ed?”

Roxas sticks his tongue out. “Gross. Fine, not Tredd. But I still want to change my name.”

As much as Lea wants to keep play-wrestling Isa, he knows what _that_ particular petulant, searching tone means. Sighing, Lea extricates himself from his boyfriend and puts on his best ‘Responsible Adult’ face. “Why do you want to change your name, Rox? Did somethin’ happen?”

“Not… exactly.” Roxas won’t meet Lea’s eyes, which puts the redhead on edge. Sharp, painful memories of schoolyard bullies and bruised knuckles play at the edges of Lea’s mind, and _really_ , he can’t be held responsible for what’ll happen if he finds out someone’s been picking on _his_ half-pints.

As if sensing the dark turn his thoughts have taken, Isa sets a warm, reassuring hand on Lea’s shoulder. The gesture brings him closer, and that alone helps dispel the bitter memories and brings Lea back to the present. Wordlessly, Lea takes Isa’s other hand in his and squeezes—Isa returns the gesture.

If Roxas noticed that brief exchange, he doesn’t show it. Instead, he says, “I just, I want something that’s _mine_. That doesn’t belong to anyone except me.”

Lea cocks his head. “I don’t follow.”

“It’s like—” Roxas sighs, then points at Lea. “Axel,” he says, then, “Saïx. Your human names, only mixed around with an ‘X’ added.” Lea doesn’t miss how Isa flinches when Roxas says his Nobody’s name, and inches closer as Roxas goes on. “Yours, right? All the other Nobodies had _their_ Somebody’s names, or else they had a name that was all their own. Like Naminé, or—” Roxas glances at Xion. “—Xion.”

“ _Number One_ ,” Xion whispers, voice hurting. Roxas winces, and for a second Lea thinks he’ll go over to Xion and apologize, but instead he sighs and drops his gaze. 

“I’m Sora’s Nobody, but I’m not ‘Sora’ like ‘Axel’ was you, Lea. And he’s missing, so, I don’t know, it feels wrong that I have his name.” Roxas sighs. “Why can’t I have my own name, just like everyone else?”

A moment passes. Months have passed, yet every mention of Sora weighs heavily. Lea brushes the instinctive guilt aside, and focuses on what Roxas said. After Isa recompleted and he’d been reassured that Roxas and Xion hadn’t forgotten him, Lea dropped ‘Axel’ for good. That name carries too many burdens, crimes that Lea still hasn’t fully atoned for. But ‘Sora’ doesn’t weigh on Roxas, not like _that_ , at least. Roxas wants his own name, _just like everyone else._

Realization hits Lea like a lightning bolt. “‘Lea’ isn’t my name,” he says, then, shaking his head, corrects himself, “I mean, it’s not _only_ my name. My grandma, Ma’s mom, her name was ‘Lea.’ I think one of her uncles or somethin’ had it, too.”

You’d think, considering the number of times Lea (or Axel) explained a completely new or unexpected concept to Roxas and Xion, that their stunned faces wouldn’t get to him anymore, but it still hits like a freight train every damn time. Isa’d be snickering now, if he knew how much Lea’s eyes sting with unshed tears. Roxas, meanwhile, looks like Lea just told him that fish can fly. 

(That’ll be a revelation for another day, Lea decides.)

“Y-you, too?” Roxas whispers. “It’s not… just me?”

Lea can’t stop himself from grinning. “Yeah, me too! Lots’a people are named after other people. Most of the time it’s family, like me, but people can be named for all kinds of things. Famous people, movie or book characters, special places… man, sometimes even food, although that’s pretty unusual. There’s a lot more people who are named after someone else than not, although—” Lea twists around and winks at Xion, “—that’s also totally fine.”

“It’s… I’m normal?” Roxas sounds like he can’t quite believe it, and _that_ has Lea on his feet without thinking, his new-old heart compelling him forward, to hold Roxas and fix everything so that nothing hurts his best friend— _all_ his best friends ever again. 

“Well, I wouldn’t call any of us _normal_ ,” Lea jokes, ruffling Roxas’s hair until the younger ducks out of reach. Laughing, Lea wraps a lanky arm around Roxas’s shoulders, and this time Roxas doesn’t wiggle free. “But yeah, as far as names go? Pretty typical, I’d say. ‘Course, if you _wanted_ another name, you could be all fancy like His Lordship over there.”

Still seated on the couch, Isa glares up at Lea. “That’s not—”

“Y’see, Isa’s got _two_ names—a first name, and a middle one,” Lea interrupts, willing to risk his boyfriend’s wrath if it puts a smile on Roxas—and Xion’s—face. “‘Isa’ is actually the middle one. His first name is—”

“ _Lea._ ” Isa stands, arms crossed and shoulders squared, body language practically _daring_ Lea to say it. However, in a rare show of self-restraint, Lea keeps mum, which draws a plaintive whine from both Xion and Roxas. 

“Tell us, please?” Xion asks, as Roxas nods beside Lea.

“Yeah, c’mon! You can’t _not_ tell us, Isa!”

“I can, and I will,” Isa retorts, much to the teens’ displeasure. He’s still glaring at Lea, but the effect is somewhat dampened by the slight upward curve of his lips. “Suffice it to say, it is _also_ a family name, albeit much more difficult to pronounce—”

“He means, ‘way more pompous.’”

“—than ‘Isa,’ which I greatly prefer,” Isa says, ignoring Lea’s interjection. As Lea hoped, their banter seems to have distracted Roxas, relaxed against Lea’s side with a thoughtful expression on his face.

“Maybe… Could I try that, instead?” he asks. 

Lea shrugs. “Sure, if you want. A first name’s usually the official one for, I dunno, documents and stuff. But if you wanted, you could make ‘Roxas’ your middle name and go by that, like Isa does. Just,” Lea teases, “Maybe rethink ‘Tredd?’ I mean, unless you _really_ want me to call ya ‘Eddy’ all the time, because I absolutely _will_ —”

Scoffing, Roxas shoves a cackling Lea away. While Lea tries (and fails) to compose himself, Isa helpfully adds, “While you’re both at school tomorrow, Lea and I will buy some different name books. I’ll also ask Ienzo if he can send us one from Radiant Garden, if either of you are interested in knowing the more popular names from our home world.”

“Thanks, Isa,” Roxas murmurs, and it’s _wild_ , Lea thinks, how quickly he can go from laughing to awed disbelief at how lucky he is, to have his friends and his lover— to have _this_ life, after all the terrible that preceded it. Suddenly desperate for a connection, Lea winds his arms around Isa’s waist, who accepts the embrace with a soft sigh. 

“If Roxas is going to have a special ‘official’ name, then I want one, too!” Xion says, smiling excitedly.

With a grin, Lea tells her, “In that case, I’ve got a suggestion. _Lea._ Now _that’s_ a memorable name, it stands for—”

“Loser,” Isa smirks.

“Lame,” Xion giggles.

“Laughable,” Roxas finishes.

Grumbling, Lea buries his face against Isa’s shoulder. “No respect, I tell ya.”

**Author's Note:**

> This sappy little ficlet was inspired by one of my favorite Lea headcanons, namely that he was named after one of his mother’s mothers. The idea that Isa goes by his middle name is something I came up with while writing this, and although I have no idea what his actual first name is, it’s definitely something celestial-inspired and has many, many syllables. ;) 
> 
> “Tredd” is a minor Final Fantasy character from *hand waves* one of the games. No offense intended to the character or any of his fans, but let’s be honest… it doesn’t seem like a great fit for Roxas, does it?
> 
> If you enjoyed this story, please leave a comment or some kudos. <3 Your feedback is greatly appreciated! Follow me on twitter [@radovanryn](https://twitter.com/radovanryn) for fic updates, snippets, and frequent Lea/Axel flailing.


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